UN chief to visit Rohingya refugees next week

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON

The UN confirmed Thursday that Secretary General Antonio Guterres will visit Rohingya refugees living in exile in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh next week.

Guterres will arrive in the South Asian country July 1 alongside World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

"Their visit will highlight the generosity of Bangladesh in hosting the largest refugee influx of 2017 and the need for the international community to do more," Dujarric said.

"The visit also aims to lay the groundwork for further dialogue with the Government of Bangladesh on medium-term planning for the refugee situation and to reiterate the UN and World Bank’s support for finding comprehensive solutions to the situation of the Rohingya people," he added.

After meeting Bangladeshi authorities in the capital, Dhaka, Guterres and Kim will travel to Cox's Bazar July 2, where they will meet Rohingya refugees and humanitarian workers "and advocate for more donor support".

The district on Bangladesh's southeast coast has taken in hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing violence and persecution in their native Myanmar.

Guterres and Kim will be accompanied by the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, and UN Population Fund Executive Director Natalia Kanem.

"They will review the situation of the newly arrived Rohingyas in Bangladesh and assess progress towards a safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees in line with international standards," Dujarric said.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, more than 750,000 refugees, mostly children and women, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to Amnesty International.

At least 9,400 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine State from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24 last year, according to Doctors Without Borders.

In a report published recently, the humanitarian group said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.

The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances committed by security personnel.

The UN has called the mass killings and forced displacements ethnic cleansing.

*Betul Yuruk contributed to this report from the United Nations